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Greetings,

I am looking to trace my family history further back and/or reconnect with descendants of the McNulty/McAnulty family (believe it was spelt both ways) and of the Breen family.

My great-great grandmother was Alice McNulty/McAnulty born in Dullaghan Townland in August 1862 to Terrence McNulty/McAnulty (birth year unknown) and Ellen Breen (born around 1836). Terrence and Ellen had many other children including Philip (May 1865), James (September 1867), Margaret (April 1870), Patrick (November 1872), Catherine (July 1875), and twins Sara Bridget and Mary Ellen (November 1879).

My family was Roman Catholic and belonged to the parish of Dromore. My great-great-great grandparents, Terrence and Ellen, got married around 1861.

Unfortunately, I cannot trace my family history back beyond that as I was unable to find Terrence and Ellen's marriage certificate. If anyone has any suggestions on how to trace my family history further back or has suggestions on how to reconnect with relatives in Northern Ireland/Ireland, please feel free to reach out to me at pnmcqu08@gmail.com

Cheers.

 

 

Friday 19th Aug 2016, 01:34AM

Message Board Replies

  • Also, Terrence's first name may have been spelt Terence rather than Terrence.

    Friday 19th Aug 2016, 02:12AM
  • Pam,

    Griffiths Valuation for 1860 lists 5 McAnulty farms in Dullaghan: Patrick, Cormick, Neal, Margaret & Michael. The revaluation lists for 1865 show Terence taking over plot 25 from Neal in 1865. (Neal may have died). That was a 20 acre farm. In turn Terence was replaced by Ellen in 1901 and by Patrick in 1909 at which time Patrick bought the freehold under the Land Act. Patrick’s name remains as owner until 1929 when that series of records finishes.

    https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/searching-valuation-revision-books

    Terence appears to have died intestate in 1899, aged 65:

    Administration of the Unadministered Estate of Terence McNulty late of Dullaghan County Tyrone Farmer who died 6 March 1899 granted at Londonderry to Mary E. McGirr Married Woman.

    Family in 1901:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Greenan/Dullaghan/1741878/

    And in 1911:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Greenan/Dullaghan/870605/

    Neal McAnulty may have been Terence’s father. I searched for a death c 1864 – 1866 but did not find one, so he probably died before 1.1.1864 when death registration started. Griffiths clerks were often out by a year or two with dates of changes.

    The tithe applotment lists for Dromore parish for 1834 list 9 McNulty farms in Dullaghan: Charles, Cormick, Denis, Neil, Nicholas, Owen, Patrick, Peter & Thomas:

    http://www.cotyroneireland.com/tithe/dromore.html

    If Ellen & Terence’s marriage was before 1.1.1864 it won’t be in the Irish civil registers. It may be in the RC parish registers though. Have you checked them? (They are on-line free on the NLI site). http://registers.nli.ie/parishes

    Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so if she was from an adjacent parish, they’d usually marry there, rather than in Dromore.

    The bad news is that RC marriage registers for that period rarely contain parents names. Generally all you get are the couples names, the date and the 2 witnesses names.

     

     

     

     

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Friday 19th Aug 2016, 03:16AM
  • Hi Elwyn, thank you for all that information and your fast response! Really appreciate it!

    I just tried checking the RC parish register, but didn't find anything. I had found something a while ago indicating that they got married in November 1861 in Magheraculmoney. I went to search Magheraculmoney's records in 1861, but they didn't have that year available (they had 1860 and 1862, though). Is 1861 not available online yet for some reason?

    Regarding their parents, that's too bad the RC marriage registers rarely include their names. However, I had heard a while ago that Ellen Breen may have been the daughter of Philip Breen and Mary Maguire, but I could never confirm this. I found an 1864 proof of residence document for Philip Breen in Magheraculmoney if that helps (please see below - was unable to upload document so I typed the information), but I'm not sure if he is connected to my relative. Can you advise if you have any record of a Philip Breen and Mary Maguire living in/around Magheraculmoney/Dromore with a daughter named Ellen born around 1836? Ellen would have been out of their household by 1861/1862 because that is about when she got married (which unfortunately is before the 1864 proof of residence document that I have). I do not know any of her siblings names, unfortunately.

    Also, do you have any advice on how I could reconnect with descendants living in Ireland/Northern Ireland today?

    Thanks so much again, really appreciate it!

    _________________________________________________________

    Valuation of tenements - Parish of Magheraculmoney - Glenarn Townland

    No. and letters of reference to map: 28

    Occupier: Philip Breen

    Immediate Lessor: John G. Irvine

    Description of Land: House, offices and land

    Area: 30 0 35 (not sure on last two numbers)

    Rateable annual valuation  - Land: 12 10 0; Buildings 1 0 0; Total annual valuation of property: 13 10 0

     

    Saturday 20th Aug 2016, 01:40AM
  •  

    The marriages for Magheraculmany in 1861 are on-line. Just for some reason 1861 isn’t offered on the year menu. I looked through them. I found a marriage for Terence McNulty to Ellen Breen on 30.12.1861. Witnesses: John & (?) Alice McWade. It’s the last marriage in 1861. See:

    http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632829#page/100/mode/1up

    So that tells you that the bride at least probably came from that parish. The Magherculmany RC baptism records start in 1836 and marriages in 1837.

     I looked at the Magheraculmany baptisms which start in 1836 but did not see Ellen’s baptism. The records for that period only give the child’s name and the father’s name. No other information. So no mother or townland etc. The early records are hard to read and some are damaged. So can’t say for certain she’s not there. You might want to look yourself. The parents’ marriage would be before the records start.

    The reference you have found in Griffiths tells you that a Philip Green was farming in Glenarn townland in 1864. He had plot 28 which comprised 30 acres) roods and 35 perches. (40 perches in a rood, 4 roods in an acre). So just over 28 acres. The financial information tells you the value of the land (for local taxation purposes). That type of valuation is still used to this day to assess local property taxes.

    Griffiths lists heads of household who have property of a value worth taxing. It’s not as comprehensive as a census. There are plenty of people who aren’t listed eg servants, lodgers, people with houses of too low a value to be worth listing etc. However if you know from a marriage or death cert that your Philip was a farmer then you would expect him to be listed. And if this is the only Philip in Magheraculmoney parish, then that increases the chances you have the right family. (Your Philip might have died before Griffiths was compiled and so not be listed).

    You can use the revaluation records to take the Griffiths records forward. Using those records I see that Philip was replaced as tenant by James Breen in 1865 (suggesting that Philip may have died). James in turn was replaced by James junior in 1903 and he was replaced by Catherine McCann in 1925. That series of records stops in 1925, though there are later records in PRONI, Belfast which take the information forward to the 1960s.

    http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm

    There were 4 Breen households in Glenarn in the 1901 census. 2 of them contained a James so a bit more work would be required to find the right one:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Lack/Glenarn/

    I think yours is probably house 5 in 1901 because there’s a James senior and junior plus a daughter Catherine who is probably the Catherine McCann who inherited in 1925.

    3 households there in 1911:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Fermanagh/Lack/Glenarn/

    One is Church of Ireland, 2 RC. They may all be related though. (Someone has switched denomination over the years).

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Fermanagh/Lack/Glenarn/

    Going backwards, there were 6 Breen farms listed in Glenarn in the tithe applotment records for 1826, including Philip Breen:

    http://www.ulsterancestry.com/ShowFreePage.php?id=415

    I searched for a death for Philip Breen 1864 – 1868 but did not find one. That suggests he probably died pre 1.1.1864 when statutory death registration began. Griffiths clerks dates were often out by a year or two so the change of tenant in 1865 isn’t out of place.

    I looked for wills for Breens from Glenarn but did not find any.

     

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Saturday 20th Aug 2016, 09:55AM
  • Thank you so much! Really appreciate your time, you are terrific!

    Saturday 20th Aug 2016, 07:53PM
  • Thanks Elwyn!

    Clare Doyle

    Genealogy Support

    Ireland XO

    Tuesday 23rd Aug 2016, 07:12AM
  • Greetings,

    I hope you had a very happy New Year! I have been doing more research and recently heard that some of my McNulty relatives still live in the Dromore area. Unfortunately, I do not have their names or contact information. Do you have any recommendations on how I could try to contact them?

     

    Best,

    Pam

    Monday 2nd Jan 2017, 01:35AM
  • Pam,

    I had a look in the local phone book. There are no McAnulty entries but  there are 18 McNulty in the BT78 postal area. I see 3 in or close to Dromore.

    http://www.ukphonebook.com

     

     

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Monday 2nd Jan 2017, 05:12PM
  • Thanks for that. I just signed up and tried searching...do you have to buy credits to search for someone in a phone book?! It keeps telling me I don't have enough credit to complete the search. The US phone book is free online so this is shocking!

    Monday 2nd Jan 2017, 05:18PM
  • Yes I am afraid we live in a hard commercial world.

    Our policy on Ireland Reaching Out is not to give out details of people who are alive even if, as in this case, the information may be freely available somewhere in the public domain. So unfortunately, though I have seen the entries, I cannot give you them here. Sorry about that. 

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Tuesday 3rd Jan 2017, 05:28PM

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